Under its police power, the City and County of San Francisco passed an ordinance that prohibits restaurants from including a free toy with its meals unless they have less than 600 calories, contain fruits and vegetables and include a beverage that is not too sweet or fattening. This ordinance is to prevent McDonalds from luring kids into buying and eating its high caloric Happy Meal to obtain a Happy Meal Toy since these Happy Meals toys are not only cute, but some have also become collectibles.
Since a low-calorie meal with fruits and vegetables and a vapid drink would not likely sell with or without a toy, McDonalds is unable to comply with this new, intellectually-crafted ordinance and still turn a profit. Instead, it neutered the law by offering the consumer a choice starting today to purchase a Happy Meal Toy separately from a Happy Meal for a dime with the dime going toward Ronald McDonald House children charity on the condition that a Happy Meal Toy can only be purchased with the purchase of a Happy Meal. This is a win-win for McDonalds and its charity.
This is also a win for parents who can use the opportunity to educate their kids that while they have the fortune to afford a McDonalds Happy Meal and purchase a toy along with it, there are kids who are unable to afford such a luxury.
Legally, this is also a win for the commerce clause and its supremacy over certain state activities unless of course the City and County of San Francisco, its mayor and its supervisors take McDonalds to court to see who is more powerful economically and intellectually and more constitutionally American and wins. That is a case I would like to see filed and go all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
Unfortunately, it would not happen. “Eric Mar, the San Francisco supervisor who sponsored the ordinance, called the 10-cent charge a ‘marketing ploy,’ but said he doesn't plan to make any changes in the ordinance to address the tactic.
“The goal of the law was not to micromanage fast-food chains but to raise awareness about the nutritional content of the food, he said.” See http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2011/1201/McDonald-s-skirts-Happy-Meal-law-by-charging-10-cents-for-toys
I wonder if there will be another law written to ban free fortune cookies that are handed out to consumers who purchase food at restaurants that sell unhealthfully greasy and overly salty foods so that they would be made aware of the risks of obesity and heart failure.
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